So. Not. Me.

I am not Martha. I don't want to be.

I hate scrapbooking. I can't even cut straight. With a paper cutter. I found out that this is MY super power. (not quite as cool a power as some other girl I know)

So, I volunteered at school today. First, I read National Geographic Kids with a small group of kids (including my own. :) It was fine. I'm OK with stuff like that. "Shut, up. Sit down. Read. Stop talking. Stop talking so loud."

But my second task was to cut paper a certain size using the guillotine-like paper cutter. It had nice little grid lines and everything. Scared me to death.
I had to ask for help.

The lovely chic mom who was in the workroom too, showed me how. "I'm a big scrapbooker." she tells me.
"We can never be friends" I think to myself.

Anyway, even after her help, I still managed to cut the paper crooked! CHA! I dunno. I thought I was on the lines and everything. Apparently not. Maybe it was because my hands were totally shaking while I was working! I was THAT nervous trying to get it right!

I guess I'm not so good with paper. I can't even figure out this cool origami heart my sister gives me a link to every year. (Sorry, Sis!)

I did the best I could (and they WERE probably passable), then gave them to the teacher.

*big sigh o' relief* I'm so glad THAT'S over.

Ya, Martha and I can probably never be friends either.

Good Food Friday!

Chris happily found an Asian market near work and bought all the fixin's for Miso soup.
He used this you tube video for the recipe and instructions.
It was a little salty so we just added more water. Also, next time we'll only do 1 tbs of seaweed, not 2 (which might help the salt problem).



For dessert, you should make the cookies that Chris' cousin Dave made for us.
Take your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, then add some crushed candy canes or peppermint candies if you threw out all your candy canes.
Yum-o!

Settling. . .finally!

You may have gathered from my lack of posting that our furniture finally arrived! Yes!
However, it was pretty crazy before that!

Friday--the movers are supposed to call and tell us when they are coming. They never do.
Friday night--Elle complains about a sore tummy after Pizza night. We tell her it's just gas and to go to bed.
Saturday 4 am--Elle wakes up complaining again, so I hold her in my arms.
She barfs all over both of us. She does this again three more times. Twice in plastic grocery bags. Once in a bucket. Chris is grossed out by the "barf bags" but disposes of them for me anyway.
Saturday morning-- We track the movers via the internet and see that they are about 5 hours away. Maybe they'll come Today!
Saturday afternoon--Elle starts to feel better and doesn't barf anymore. Our stuff is still 5 hours away
Saturday night 8pm--The tracker says our stuff is only 20 miles away, so Chris goes to the house to wait for them just in case.
On the way, Chris runs over a piece of metal and gets a flat on the Mini. (Did I mention it's raining?) He tries to use the spare, but it's stuck. His uncle and cousin come with a ratchet set, but have no luck. He leaves the mini in a Blockbuster parking lot and gets a lift to the house with his cousin.
Saturday night 10:30pm--Chris decides the movers aren't coming after all, and comes back to his uncle's in our other car.
Sunday morning--Elle feels a little sluggish, so I stay home from church with her. Chris gets in the car to go to the house and I notice there is a flat on my car too. He pumps it up with a bicycle pump and goes on his way.
Sunday 10:30am--Just as Chris pulls up to the house, the movers are leaving a note on the door. "Mrs. Harvey Movers was here." They parallel park the semi-truck and start unloading. Yea!!
Sunday--ALL DAY--Two movers unload everything and Chris sets up beds and the table.
Sunday night--we have one more dinner with Chris' uncle and aunt, then head to our NEW HOME!

WHEW!

Chris' mom is here helping me unpack, shop, and decorate! Thank goodness! She's been SO helpful! We only have a handful of boxes left!

Elle's first day at school was FANTASTIC!!! Her teacher is nice and young. She emailed me:

We are a green school so we don’t send to much stuff home with the kids. I email out a newsletter every other week with important information and where to find stuff.

Hope this helps and is not too overwhelming.

Elle is a very sweet girl. She seemed to get right into the swing of things yesterday. She was even raising her hand to answer questions.

All the kids wanted to sit by Elle at lunch and play with her at recess. She has lots of friends already, but she can't remember all their names ;)

I'm volunteering in the school library tomorrow and again in the class on the 23rd! :)

The sun was our for three hours yesterday! It was beautiful!

That's all for now!

I'll post pictures some time. . .

House Update

We are now in the land of liquid sunshine! We have our keys to our NEW HOME!


But. . .


We don't have anything to put into it because the truck that has our stuff is in Idaho and all the passes are closed.

So. . .

I'm not really sure when we can officially move in.

But we're still excited to be here and Elle starts school on Monday!
(she's actually excited!)

Stay tuned for more info.!

Christmas with friends

This year, we spent Christmas with some good friends. We had a lovely dinner, and then celebrated by having. . .



a Nerf dart gun war!!!!

Sunday Christmas dress

And hair
























And Christmas earrings





















And festive ribbon

I'm back!

We are finally back in Sunny California! (not for long!)

I thought you'd like to see our new home (if you haven't already)
We get to keep the fridge, all window treatments, and the dining room set plus the hutch that goes with it.